When it’s too dreary to even step outside…

Not that I don’t love winter in New England… I do! I love snow & snuggling up by the proverbial fireplace (I say “proverbial” because I don’t actually have a fireplace, but I get the same feeling if I snuggle up with a cup of tea on my comfy couch with my hubby and/or kitties). I’ve lived in the desert and in the rainforest and other places in between, and everywhere I’ve lived there have always been some people who just hated the land that they lived on. When finding out where I moved from, they would say “Why? It’s so awful here.” I came to realize that those kind of people live in every area, no matter what the climate is. I am not one of those people. I love New England. I love the seasons. I love how by the time you forget what a season is like it comes back to remind you. I love all the traditions that go along with each season. And I even love winter. But on days like today, when there is literally no activity that could possibly be fun outside, you have to do something to beat the proverbial winter blues (yes, that just seems to be the word of the day).

So I’ve made a list here of some inside projects I like to do when it’s too dreary to even step outside…

1. Crocheting: I went to the yarn store and got beautiful skeins of yarn that made me feel happy just looking at the colors. I usually just make the same old hats, scarves & blankets, but this year I am trying to expand my crocheting skills by following some new patterns.

Browse our crocheting & knitting section in non-fiction, the 746s for a good book for your level of expertise.

2. Starting Seeds: Nothing like growing something green to chase the cold away! Very shortly we can start some of our seedlings inside that will be ready to plant in the Spring.

The Garden Primerby Barbara Damrosch (635 DAM): My sister gave me this book for Christmas and I cried because I was so happy. I had kept on checking it out at the library and finally returned it, knowing I had to at least give someone else a chance to spot it on the shelf. This is perfect for beginner gardeners, giving you A to Z information, as the name implies.

Garden Way Publishing’s Growing & Saving Vegetable Seeds by Marc Rogers (635 ROG): I actually bought all of my seeds for this year, but this is a very interesting book about how seed-growing works. If you want to try your hand at growing & preparing your own seeds, this book tells you everything you need to know.

And, of course…

3. Reading a Good Book: This is where you snuggle up on the couch with your cup of tea and pretend you are next to a roaring fire…

Yes Man by Danny Wallace (248.4 WAL): This is the best book I have read in a long time. It’s a true story about a London man who decides to say yes to every invitation for almost an entire year. It has the sweetest love story in it as well. Don’t watch the movie! Well, you can watch the movie, but the book is a hundred times better! This definitely went into my top-10 chart for best books of all time.

Peony in Love by Lisa See (FIC SEE): This was a mysterious & mystical book, sometimes heart-wrenching, but beautifully written, about a young woman in an arranged marriage. There is interesting historical information about footbinding in 17th century China as well.

If you’re looking for something light & fun:

Austenland by Shannon Hale (FIC HAL): Jane receives a bequest from her aunt to visit a retreat in England where visitors play out roles in Jane Austen novels. Needless to say, she falls for two of the actors at the park and has to decide who she truly wants, and whether it is all a game or not.

Or… my mom has a fun idea for you. She just moved to a new town last month and made sure to get her new library card. She told me every time she goes to a new library she starts in the A’s of fiction and browses until she finds a book that looks appealing. Once she reads it and brings it back, she goes back to the section she left at, and continues along until she gets to the Z’s. This time she decided to work backwards in her new library and recommends Katharine Weber and Fay Weldon.

Jesse Lee Harmon is the bookkeeper/library assistant at OWL and is currently humming the song Viva La Vida by Coldplay…

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One thought on “When it’s too dreary to even step outside…”

Jesse!
Fabulous post! In fact, I was going to do my next blog on crocheting and wintery things as well–hahah. I guess our minds were on the same wave.
I, too, love crocheting, and just started a babies blanket!